HENDERSON —  After trailing 2-0, the Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions battled back to win the third and fourth sets to force the decisive fifth set. Spoiling FHU's senior day, the Georgetown (Ky.) College Tigers escapee with the win 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 27-29, 20-25, 16-14).

It was a good start for the Lady Lions (11-12, 0-8 MSC), winning the first four rallies of the match with kills from Alanys Ruíz Rivera and Avery Harris. The Tigers would battle back, eventually overtaking the lead with a 4-0 run to move ahead 6-5. The Tigers would stay ahead for the rest of the opening set until a series of errors sparked by a block from Avery Young saw the GC lead evaporate and give FHU a 23-22 edge. Georgetown would side out and claim the last two points of the set to win 25-23.

The service attack of Georgetown (9-21, 3-7 MSC) showed its fangs in the middle of the second set, where the Tigers began service trailing 10-8. In a 7-0 run, Georgetown connected for three service aces. That lead kept the Lady Lions at bay until Georgetown took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-20 win.

The marquee third set featured nine ties and four lead changes. It appeared as though FHU would easily avoid a sweep by seeing Autumn Howard go on a tear of her own, dropping four service aces to help give the Lady Lions a 15-8 advantage. Another ace from Avery Young would help FHU put distance to lead 18-11. Georgetown would chip away at FHU's lead until an FHU attack error knotted the set 23-23. Needing extra rallies, FHU had three different set points answered by Georgetown before Catherine Hackett's kill won the set 29-27.

FHU would have their best offensive set in the fourth frame, blasting 10 kills without committing a single attack error at a .312 mark. Harris would place a back-to-back set of service aces in the middle of the fourth set to take a 13-10 lead, helping to push the Lady Lions over the mark to win 25-20 and force a decisive first-to-15 fifth set.

It was a great start for the ladies in maroon, when a rotation error erased a pair of Georgetown points and helped the Lady Lions lead 5-1. Undeterred, Georgetown answered with five unanswered points to take a 6-5 lead. The Lady Lions followed suit with with a 4-0 run capped by a Catherine Hackett stuff to lead 10-7. FHU sat on match point for two rallies, but the Tigers answered to tie the set 14-14. The Lady Lions would watch as a pair of kills gave the guests from Georgetown the set and the match win.

Service aces were aplenty with Georgetown collecting 19, with the Lady Lions dropping 14. FHU dominanted the front row with nine blocks to GC's zero.

Alanys Ruíz Rivera led FHU's hitters with 12 kills, followed by Avery Harris's 11. Avery Young was a kill short of a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs, trailing FHU's libero, Charley Fulton who pulled up 27 digs. Morgan Wilson led the blockers with four total blocks.
 

---

Up Next

The Lady Lions will continue their hunt for a league win by hosting the Wildcats of Bethel (Tenn.) University on Thursday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m.